Tag: history

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Restoration or Erasure: Old ways are erased by the new

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The Palace of the Republic, that once housed the East German Parliament, is demolished. A grandmother’s laughter passes from life into memory and the furniture that once made a home is taken to the tip. A friendship drops into silence. Old ways are erased by the new  In this fascinating collection of essays, most of them written for her column in the Frankfurter  Allgemeine Zeitung, Winner of the International Booker Prize Jenny Erpenbeck meditates, with a sense of both deep melancholy and wry humour, on the disappearance and impermanence of things. Recalling the shop that used to darn tights in the … Continue reading Restoration or Erasure: Old ways are erased by the new

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Misrepresented women’s role in global economics

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Female entrepreneurs, economic revolutionaries who defied the women’s roles as producers and reproducers and the sense that things might have different if homo economicus, had been joined by femina ecobomics. In ancient Athens, did you know about Phryne, the richest woman who offered to pay to rebuild the walls of Thebes after the city was razed by Alexander the Great, or in Georgian England, Priscilla Wakefield, the writer and entrepreneur, set up the first English “penny bank” to help women on low incomes to save money and children to save from an early age ? What about the everyday woman … Continue reading Misrepresented women’s role in global economics

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Debates in Congress and the Supreme Court about executive power

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In The Pursuit of Liberty, bestselling author, Jeffrey Rosen, president of the National Constitution Centre, explores how the opposing constitutional visions of Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton have defined America for 250 years, influenced presidents from Washington to Trump, how to balance liberty and power, and continue to drive the debate over the power of government. While Hamilton pushed for a strong Federal Government and a powerful executive. This ongoing tug-of-war has shaped all the pivotal moments in American history, including Abraham Lincoln’s fight against slavery and southern secession, the expansion of federal power under Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal, and … Continue reading Debates in Congress and the Supreme Court about executive power

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Instruments of Wealth extraction which aids the spread of autocracy

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“The magic of Tim Wu’s The Age of Extraction is its simplicity, and breaks down one of the greatest challenges of our age- the unaccountable power of tech platforms, explaining your online life is draining your wallet. Our world is dominated by a handful of tech platforms, who provide great conveniences and entertainment, but also stand as some of the most effective instruments of wealth extraction ever invented, seizing immense amount of money, data, and attention from all of us. An economy driven by digital platforms and AI influence offers the potential to enrich us, and also threatens to marginalize … Continue reading Instruments of Wealth extraction which aids the spread of autocracy

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Law and justice system might touch our lives

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British Law and justice system might touch our lives when we have an accident, a wrong is done to us, or we have a family difficulty. They are vast, ancient and cover everything from the personal to the regulation of our government. But to most of us, they are a wen of intimidating institutions and practices. Baroness Hale, after spending a decade writing about England’s justice system, shows us how the law is on our side, by taking us into the complexities of real courts and real decisions, we see that we all have rights: schoolchildren, disabled people, workers, minorities … Continue reading Law and justice system might touch our lives

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The Age of the Bomb: Fear of Annihilation

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America was responsible for the existence of nuclear age with the explosion of the first atomic bomb in the New Mexico desert on July 16, 1945. The inauguration of this new era was epitomized by the bomb’s principal creator, J. Robert Oppenheimer, quoting the Bhagavad Gita: “Now I am become death, the destroyer of worlds.” Since then, the era of atom has become the age of the bomb? or two bombs, Atomic and Hydrogen. Three weeks latercame the US nuclear strikes on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and with them ending of the second world war, triggering the cold war transforming the … Continue reading The Age of the Bomb: Fear of Annihilation

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Consequences of making poor decisions affecting billions

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Presidents turning into monarchs. Tech tycoons and autocrats intent on global regime change. Armies of cyber trolls. The old order is at an end. The Hour of the Predator has come. Former political adviserGiuliano da Empoli takes us on an insider’s journey through this new reality, from the Glass Palace of the UN to the Riyadh Ritz-Carlton, from top secret meetings to violent power struggles. We encounter dictators and tryants, strongmen and AI billionaires – geopolitical predators, and the flailing leaders whop desperately try to appease them. In the age of the Borgias or the conquistadors, cynical scheming and brute … Continue reading Consequences of making poor decisions affecting billions

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History repeats itself: The tale of power, psychology and seductive illusion

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In 1929, Andrew Ross Sorkin, the author of Too Big to Fall -the definitive history of the 2008, banking crisis, follows a similar people-centred recipe to retell a much older tale of financial hubris and nemesis: the great crash that began in 1929 in the US but which when stretched out in waves of repeated panic for several years and across many countries. Sorkin reveals the tale of its ugly aftermath, as panic moved from Wall Street to Main Street with the Great Depression of the 1930s and the sweeping regulatory response to these cascading crises. In 1929, the world … Continue reading History repeats itself: The tale of power, psychology and seductive illusion

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Accidental billionaire

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Yvon Chouinard, founder of Patagonia, one of the most extraordinary brands in the corporate world, the rare company that is driven by environmental activism instead of cutthroat capitalism. Patagonia founded in 1973, a US clothing company trailing associations of rugged outdoor pursuits, posting sales of more than $1billion a year. Chouinard distrustful of capitalism, even as he engaged in it, investment bankers co-opted the garments into their uniforms, sometime wearing under their suit jackets or blazers. The company has distinguished itself as a singular beacon for socially responsible business, the rare company that can legitimately claim to be doing its … Continue reading Accidental billionaire

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Obstacles and indignities that Thatcher encountered

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Charles Moore’s authorized biography of Margaret Thatcher illuminates her early life, rise to power and initial period as prime minister of the woman who transformed Britain and the world in the late twentieth century.  Moore takes us back to Grantham where she lived over her parent grocery shop. As there was no hereditary money, she had to work very hard, even serving at the counter. She knew about perseverance and in attempting to become an MP she lost in two general elections, but did not give up until she secured a safe seat in Finchley. She became the Conservative Party … Continue reading Obstacles and indignities that Thatcher encountered